How to Attract Birds to Your Yard

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Providing food, nest boxes, nesting materials, water, and natural habitat can attract birds to our backyards, giving us much nicer views of them and, when done properly, making life easier for the birds. Attracting birds is also a great way to introduce young people to nature, and it's something the whole family can share. Having a bird-friendly yard has never been more important – nearly 80 percent of wildlife habitat in the United States is in private hands, and an average of 2.1 million acres each year are converted to residential use.

How do you begin?

An easy way to start out attracting birds is to put up a bird feeder. We'll help you choose feeders and foods that appeal to the birds you want to attract, plus we'll tell you where to put your feeder and how to maintain it. And we can give you some hints about food items, such as eggshells, fruits, and mealworms, that provide extra nourishment for some wonderful species.

Some birds, especially woodpeckers and chickadees, excavate cavities in tree trunks for nesting and roosting. Many other species, such as wrens, bluebirds, and some ducks and owls, nest in cavities that other birds have made. Nest boxes offer these birds a place to raise their young, especially where natural cavities are at a premium. Our nest box section describes the features of a good nest box, where to place it, and how to avoid predators. Our nesting section also lists some nesting materials you can offer that will help a wide variety of species.

Bird Baths and Other Enticements

A source of clean water, for drinking and bathing, may attract birds that don’t visit feeders. We can help ensure that your water helps birds, not mosquitoes or algae. And we've got ideas for other great attractants, too, such as building a brush pile.

The Big Picture: Landscaping

How we landscape our yard and deal with insects and weeds can make the difference between a bird haven and a pile of problems. Our landscaping section is full of tips to help you make your backyard a place where birds thrive.

Problems?

Attracting birds to your property is full of rewards, but it brings problems and responsibilities too. From too many starlings or geese to woodpecker holes in your house, our problems section offers advice to help solve these and many other problems.

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NEXT STEPS

YardMap is a citizen science project developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. YardMappers create maps of their yards and other places showing the kinds of features and landscaping they've installed to support birds.